# polar vs SearXNG

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | polar | SearXNG |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 71/100 | 86/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #1 of 13 in Billing | #1 of 41 in Search Engines |
| GitHub stars | 10 436 | 38 967 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +157 | +1 355 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 ✓ | 0 |
| Latest release | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Python | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

SearXNG scores 86/100 against 71/100 for polar, so it is the safer default.

polar ships more often: 1 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for SearXNG.

If you want the quickest setup, SearXNG is easier to run; polar needs more configuration.

SearXNG is growing faster right now (+1 355 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [polar](https://selfhost.directory/project/polar) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/polar.md)
- [SearXNG](https://selfhost.directory/project/searxng) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/searxng.md)

---
Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/polar-vs-searxng